News and notes from each week of NASCAR racing using a Las Vegas oddsmaking perspective

Friday, February 27, 2015

Kyle Larson fastest in first QuikTrip 500 practice at Atlanta

Kyle Larson might be in store for 1st career win

Kyle Larson was fastest Friday afternoon during the first QuikTrip 500 practice session at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Larson laid down a lap at 192.989 mph which was in line with Thursday's open test session at Atlanta where he had the second fastest lap of the day behind teammate Jamie McMurray. Larson finished eighth last season in his first Sprint Cup race at Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick showed he's ready to roll again on 1.5-mile tracks with the second fastest speed at 192.607 mph. Harvick hasn't won at Atlanta since his dramatic win as a rookie in 2001, but he is using a chassis that led 748 total laps last season including wins at Darlington and Phoenix.

David Ragan, driving for the injured Kyle Busch, came in third quickest in the No. 18 JGR Toyota at 192.547 mph and was followed by Joey Logano (192.373) and 2012 Atlanta winner Denny Hamlin (192.366).

Rounding out the top-10 was three-time Atlanta winner Tony Stewart (192.000), Justin Allgaier (191.914), Brad Keselowski (191.827), Matt Kenseth (191.622) and Jamie McMurray (191.556). Kenseth tied a career-best with second-place at Atlanta in 2014, but is still searching for his first win there.

Qualifying will be later this evening at (5:45 pm ET) and then the final two practice sessions will occur Saturday. The green flag is expected to drop Sunday at 1:16 pm (ET), but weather could be a problem with a 50 percent chance of rain in the forecast.